Ms Wilkinson was on a two-day visit to the area and yesterday met a defiant group of protesters outside her motel before she departed for Doubtful Sound as a guest of the Fiordland Guardians.
Assembling from 8am and ignoring freezing conditions, the group waited an hour for the minister to emerge, garnering support from passing motorists.
When she confronted the 100-strong crowd, Ms Wilkinson first spoke to local children before she was engulfed by pleas from the gathered crowd to "please listen to us".
She told the crowd the lengthy process in deciding whether to grant concessions for both the Milford Dart Tunnel and the Fiordland Link Experience (the monorail) was all part of "democracy".
"It's the triggering mechanism to enable the public to be consulted."
Save Fiordland spokeswoman Daphne Taylor said the minister's response was purely political.
"She's a politician so she did what she needed to do out there."
Ms Taylor urged the minister to "think seriously" about the proposals and to "listen to the real guardians of the land", the people, who were "the ones out there trapping stoat".
People lined the 20km route from Te Anau to Manapouri with a variety of vehicles displaying signs opposing the projects.
Ms Taylor said this and the fact so many had braved the cold was testament to people's passion.
Te Anau resident Sonja James, holding a sign which read "Don't make Te Anau a ghost town", said she feared for the town's future should the proposals go ahead.
"I've put a lot into this town and we don't want this to become a ghost town like Route 66 in America.
"If it goes ahead, that's our jobs and livelihoods down the gurgler."
Late last year, Ms Wilkinson announced her intention to grant concessions for Milford Dart Ltd and Riverstone Holdings Ltd.
More than 1200 submissions were received during the formal submission period, which ended earlier this year.
An online petition against the tunnel was created by Glenorchy woman Patricia Ko in April and has attracted more than 17,000 signatures.
The $150 million, 11.3km tunnel would run from the Routeburn Rd in Mt Aspiring National Park to the Hollyford Rd in the Fiordland National Park and the 43km monorail would run from near the Mavora Lakes to Milford Rd at Te Anau Downs.
